


falling, falling, falling into the flames

by cicsummers



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: (yes the title is a mechs lyric), But mostly fluff, DO NOT READ PRE-147, Gen, HEAVY 147 SPOILERS, I think?, a tad bit of angst, and by nice i mean roast me all you want in the comments lol, can you tell, i've never used tags before, meta turned fic, this is literally my first fic please be nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22808992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cicsummers/pseuds/cicsummers
Summary: Do you ever wonder what they were thinking, at the end of that fight? In that one, single, shining moment?
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31





	falling, falling, falling into the flames

**Author's Note:**

> I'm new at this, written mostly because of all the lovely Rogers over on the red string server inspiring me to just do more art & shit, so anyway love y'all if you're reading this.  
> Title from "Hellfire" by the Mechanisms, because it kept playing in my head as I was writing this even though I'm literally listening to other music as I type.

Do you ever think about Hamid, screaming out fire in the face of unbeatable odds? About Azu, standing strong and defiant in the face of near-certain death? Zolf, hands outstretched in support, offering help for all who need it, even as he falters, falls, fails? Cel, darting about in potion-augmented flight, trying desperately to have an effect, any effect at all, without getting killed? They all faced down a monster, together, faced down a towering mechanical beast that nearly killed them all, throwing fire and lightning and ice, but they stood strong and they stood defiant and they stood _together_ , throwing themselves at their adversary, defeating the behemoth even as it swung what would’ve been a killing blow. What was running through their minds, then, as Hamid, invisible, howled his fury into dragonfire, melting the lethal hit as it swung through the air? 

Hamid, mind blank of anything except _not her, not her, not them, not my friends not my loved ones not my_ family, feeling nothing but _rage_ and _fury_ and _denial_ . He has been useless so often, lately, but _finally_ he can do something to protect his party—but there is no room for that, right now.

Azu, so certain she is about to die, suddenly protected by this blaze of dragonfire, going from _I will not back down, not even now, at least if I die I cannot let go_ to _I am loved, here, now, I can feel it in this heat, feel it in my heart._ How wondrous it must feel, this love, how fatal in the face of her guilt—but that is for later.

Zolf, so close yet so far away, unable to protect or heal in this moment, watching as dragonfire suddenly blazes into being. Desperation morphing into desperate _hope_ , a persistent hope, one he goes back to when all else fails, when _he_ fails, that things will work out so long as he has that hope to drive him, and it _does_ , it _does_ work out, even if he fails _things can work out_. If only he could stop failing, stop letting people down—but here, now, things have worked out, and _everyone is alive_.

Cel, surrounded by new people, new experiences, new _friends, maybe, if they can figure it out_ , and these new people have nearly died so many times already, haven’t they, and Cel has seen so much worse, haven’t they, but they still want to win, still believe they can win, still make themself focus on winning, because they have gotten this far, who’s to say they can’t go even farther, and then they _do._ It is a close call, but that’s where the most fun can be had, right on the edge, what’s a little fun without a little danger? And they may be making light, but sometimes that’s all you can do in the moment.

There will be time after this to break, time after this to shatter and fall apart, and maybe, just maybe, they will be able to help each pick up the broken pieces and rebuild.

But right now, there is dragonfire in the air and love in the heart and hope in the chest and pride in the eyes, and there is _triumph._ They have _won_.

_They have won._

**Author's Note:**

> bonus points: comment the line you think hurt me the most. or comment the line that hurt you the most. or just comment, that works too.


End file.
